Dragon CAN20061F German Blitzkrieg Military Vehicle Series: Panzer IV Ausf. D Medium Tank - 21.Panzer Division, North Africa, 1941 (1:144 Scale)"We must do everything we can to promote anti-tank defense, and work just as hard to guarantee successful counter-attacks through the instrument of powerful tank forces of our own."- Major-General Heinz Guderian, "Achtung Panzer!"

Through the invasion of Czechoslovakia the Germans got a reasonable tank in the LT-35, but they also got a better tank in the LT-38, otherwise known as the TNHP-8 or, in German service, as the PzKpfw 38(t) (t=tschechoslowakish). The LT-38 shared many features with the LT-35, like riveted and bolted armor (weaker than welded armor), the same crew and high silhouette. It was, however, also faster, had a greater range and better cross-country performance because of its high power-to-weight ratio, in spite of its narrow tracks. The LT-38 was produced by C.K.D. (Ceskomoravska Kolben Danek), which was renamed Praga by the Germans who preferred a simple name. The vehicle remained in production as a tank until 1942, and the chassis was used in the Marder III and Hetzer tank destroyers, the Bison self-propelled gun, and Flakpanzer 38(t). Others, like flame-thrower and engineer versions were also produced in small numbers towards the end of the war.

The PzKpfw 38(t) was very essential to the German Army and Waffen SS; at one time it made up 25 per cent of the Panzer divisions' strength. From 1941 onwards it was outmatched by Allied tanks, but it continued to serve until the end of the war. The tank used Christie-type suspension even though it was changed to include two return rollers above and in between the first two roadwheels on each side. The vehicle was tough and field maintenance was easy. The Germans made improvements to the commander's vision blocks to help tactical deployment. Prior to the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Sweden ordered the LT-38. During 1939-40 the Reich continued delivery, which was canceled just before the invasion of Russia.
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Dimensions:
Length: 1-1/2 inches
Width: 1 inch

Release Date: January 2006

Historical Account: Blitzkrieg (German for "lightning war") is a popular name for an operational-level military doctrine which employed mobile forces attacking with speed and surprise to prevent an enemy from implementing a coherent defense. The doctrines resulting in the blitzkrieg effect were developed in the years after World War I as a method to help prevent trench warfare.

Blitzkrieg was first used on any serious scale by the German Wehrmacht in World War II. Operations early in the war�the invasions of Poland, France, and the Soviet Union�were highly effective, owing to surprise penetrations, enemy unpreparedness for massive exploitation and an inability to react swiftly enough to the superior German military doctrines. The Germans faced numerically superior forces and technically superior vehicles in the invasion of France, proving the early effectiveness of their tactics and strategies. From this peak, the Wehrmacht's cohesion deteriorated. Heinz Guderian, an early implementor of the blitzkrieg, was relieved of command on December 25th, 1941, for ordering a withdrawal which contradicted Hitler's "standfast" order.